The present invention relates generally to improvements in assessing the quality of information displays. More specifically, the present invention relates to providing methods and apparatus for quantitatively assessing the visual quality of information displays such as liquid crystal displays.
Flat panel displays, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), are the primary user interface device and one of most costly components of point of sale (POS) terminals. Although LCD technology has improved recently, the contrast, brightness and color of a LCD vary with viewing angle. The usability of a POS terminal is directly influenced by the visual quality of the information display. However, display specifications provided by manufacturers of displays are typically the only measure available to assess display quality.
Several problems can occur by solely using these specifications to evaluate display quality. For example, there is currently no standard measurement methodology utilized across the display industry. Thus, various test measurements are not directly comparable among the suppliers of flat panel displays. Additionally, visual quality is affected by factors other than those measured and published in supplier specification documents, leaving these published factors as insufficient measures of visual quality.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method for producing a quantitative assessment of the visual quality of a group of flat panel displays.
The present invention advantageously provides methods and apparatus for quantitatively assessing the visual quality of information displays. According to one aspect of the present invention, a quantitative assessment of a group of information displays is provided. The present invention advantageously provides engineers and product managers with a system and method to quantify the photometric dimensions which have the largest impact on human perception, and the legibility and aesthetic quality of information displays. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention allows system designers to compare competing display by providing eight key quantitative photometric indices of visual quality. Additionally, composite indices composed of two or more of the individual indices are provided.
A more complete understanding of the present invention, as well as further features and advantages of the invention, will be apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.